I Fell in Love with Myself ~ Mind Body & Soul

Feb 2

4 min read

My Before (November of 2023) and After (November of 2024)

Hi everyone. My name is Toni Chidester, and I own The Pilates Place- of Rockport, TX. Some of you already know me as I have been in Rockport for almost 3 years now. In that time, I have been blessed with many opportunities. One of them was to afford to fall in love with taking care of myself…take really, really good care of myself - Body, Mind and Soul. I started my journey around October of 2023 for health and wellness (more about that later). I have learned so much about how to get what my body needs and what works for me. While on this journey I lost 100 pounds! Many of you have seen this transformation and may have wondered what I did, while some of you have outright asked me what I did. I have decided to start a challenge to show you what I did exactly to get where I am today Body Mind & Soul so you can do it, too!

Body: Around May of last year, I started utilizing a functional medicine Dr as all my PCP could do was run blood levels. Though we both agreed there was something more than normal labs going on with me, he stated that I should investigate other means to advocate for myself as he was at a loss for diagnosing me with anything specific, so off I went. I leaned into learning, and I actively sought what I needed to advocate for my body, and I never looked back. I am still under the functional medicine Dr’s care, and I still deal with remnants of the Adrenal/Cortisol fatigue, but I am doing tremendously better with the supplements and Sugar Detox, Candida, and mostly Organic & Gluten free food lifestyle changes I have made.

I did not follow everything 100% all of the time. I believe in the 80/20 rule (right choices 80% of the time and build in some more decadent foods/treats the other 20%). Couple this with the principle that you cannot feel deprived, or the lifestyle changes you have made won’t stick…. especially for those of us with a sweet tooth as well as insulin resistance. This led me to seek out Chef Deanna Mccoy of Your Personal Chef, and together we have put together exclusive Recipes and Meal plans for The Pilates Place and the Fall in Love with Taking Care of Yourself-Body, Mind, and Soul Challenge (established 2025).

Mind: I also started doing devotionals, for my mental well-being. I leaned into what It means to be an anxious person. How I show up in my relationships and friendships, and really heal some old wounds, behaviors & beliefs. I learned that the physical and mental issues, most of the stress, panic attacks and anxiety attacks were physiological, and once I started the adrenal detox and healing my gut, I experienced tremendous relief. I have learned how to change, release emotions and re-program my Limbic System. I also started a bible study and worked with a Christian Life coach on how to heal the mental side of my Limbic System.

Soul: Pilates, Walking and Silver Sneakers Exercise is what I did 100% for my Soul. I meditate in different ways: while I walk, and doing meditation through Sound bath and other holistic methods. I thank God for resetting, restoring and reviving me mentally and physically. I was in a very stressful job and it kept getting worse and worse until I could no longer function in my job description, hence the Adrenal/Cortisol fatigue I mentioned earlier. Pilates literally saved my Soul. I reconnected to my love of dance through Pilates. It opened a deeper connection with my spiritual side as well. From January of last year until the end of August I was a Student Instructor and Apprentice at 361 Pilates by Jo. Once she closed the studio I was so blessed to teach Mat Pilates with Polly Callum, a Pilates instructor/ Personal Trainer and owner of FitLab. I also taught, trained with and observed with Spencer Gambill of Highline Pilates in Corpus Christi (A Peak Pilates Studio), Sammie Sappington-Story , Peak Pilates Master Instructor and Instructor Trainer in Stafford at Peach Pilates Collective (Sammie is also my Mentor), and lastly, Amanda Lourdes who mentored me through the closing of the studio I was apprenticing for. She put me in contact with Polly, helped me to find SS instructor work and she mentored me as I trained to become a Silver Sneakers instructor, teaching part of her class as well (Shout out to the Silver Tribe). During this time, I taught Mat Pilates Mon-Wed, I taught Silver Sneakers Mon-Wed-Fri, and I went to corpus Christi to teach Spencer and mostly get trained by him as well as observe him teach. Mon-Wed-Fri I would do at least 3 workouts those days and I walked 3x a week.

If I’m being 100 percent transparent, I also partnered with my PCP to start Monjauro at that time. It was a key factor getting me unstuck from a weight loss plateau. I got stuck at 35 pounds lost and I couldn’t get the needle to move. I have recently weaned off Monjauro, and I found a great replacement GLP-1 Supplement through LifeVantage the Activation Company, called Mind-Body (how apropos).